Trump has changed his health care approach 3 times in 36 hours

President Trump hasn’t been settling on a single strategy to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.

Indeed, Trump has touted several different stances over the past 36 hours to fulfill the GOP campaign promise to dismantle Obamacare.

He started off this week pushing for a “repeal and replace” plan, under which an alternative approach to health care would be promptly implemented. He later switched to advocating doing nothing, allowing Obamacare to simply “fail” and give him more leverage in negotiations. He then pushed for a so-called clean repeal, which would give the Republicans two years to figure out Obamacare’s replacement. Finally, on Wednesday, he returned to repeal and replace.

Photo Illustration by Yahoo News; Photos: AP

During his presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly promised to repeal and replace the bill, but since taking office he has struggled to pass the legislation through a Republican-controlled Congress. The House version of the bill passed in May by a narrow margin, but key Republican senators have since balked at various proposals.

Below is a timeline of Trump’s changing positions on health care:

Nov. 13, 2016: Repeal and replace

In his first interview after becoming president-elect, Trump told CBS’ “60 Minutes” that he would repeal and replace Obamacare.

“We’re going to do it simultaneously,” he said of the strategy, saying he’d keep parts of former President Barack Obama’s signature health care law. “It’ll be just fine. We’re not going to have, like, a two-day period and we’re not going to have a two-year period where there’s nothing. It will be repealed and replaced.”

2017: Repeal and replace

Trump has called for a “repeal and replace” strategy throughout much of the year.

Hopefully Republican Senators, good people all, can quickly get together and pass a new (repeal & replace) HEALTHCARE bill. Add saved $'s.

The president said he was disappointed in Congress for not passing the repeal and replace bill. If Congress lets Obamacare fail, Trump said, it would force Democrats to join the Republicans and work to develop a stronger solution.

July 18, mid-morning: Clean repeal again

Trump appeared to change course again on Tuesday, when Vice President Mike Pence announced Tuesday that he and Trump supported a clean repeal strategy.

Pence said in a speech that he and the president “fully support” McConnell’s effort to pass a clean repeal bill.

“President Trump and I fully support the majority leader’s decision to move forward with a bill that just repeals Obamacare and gives Congress time, as the president said, to work on a new health care plan that will start with a clean slate,” Pence said. The vice president, who had played a key role in ushering the legislation through the House, urged lawmakers to “replace now and replace later,” in his speech.